Colorado - Lord Stanley's return.

[devo22]

Nice writing there. Good to see that Grabner/Duchene have such great chemistry, nice job there! I'll be following, interested in what you have planned for trade deadline.

[Dynasty]

Quote: Originally Posted by SENS_AK27

A very nice dynasty you got going here. The chemistry between Duchene and Grabner is uncanny, they will be the next coming of Sakic and Forsberg no doubt. Good luck, I'll be reading.

Quote: Originally Posted by devo22

Nice writing there. Good to see that Grabner/Duchene have such great chemistry, nice job there! I'll be following, interested in what you have planned for trade deadline.

Thanks guys. I hope you continue to read and comment. As it is Duchene and Grabner are the heart and soul of the team. I hadn't thought of a parity between them and Joe/peter maybe as they continue to grow it will become true! I am certainly going to make every effort to make sure they are in an Av's uniform for a long time.

[Dynasty]

Pre trade deadline interview with GM Steve Pattenden

Hello and welcome fans and readers. I am hockey insider Derren Dreger for TSN here for an exclusive (and hopefully lengthy) interview with Colorado Avalanche GM Steve Pattenden.

Dreger: Glad you could join us Steve, let me begin by asking what the atmosphere in Colorado is like.

Pattenden: Thank you for inviting me Derren. The atmosphere is electric, the fans have always been excellent here in Colorado. I really don't think they get the credit they deserve. They love this team and the game of hockey so much and they make a really strong effort to support their guys through thick and thin.

Dreger: Is it true that Colorado is chasing after Marty Turco or Jean Sebastian Giguere? if so how are those talks going?

Pattenden: No Darren that has never been the case. There was a time earlier in the year when I did ask about a couple goalies in the minors but were talking prospects here, no one that was going to take the net from Budaj or Elliott. I was looking for someone to challenge our own big ticket prospect Calvin Pickard. I believe there is more motivation when your challenged for a job then there is when your just plainly expected to do something a specific way or preform to a certain degree.

Dreger: Okay so your not concerned with your current goal tending? If your not after a goalie then who are you after?

Pattenden: You know how hockey is Derren. It's not as simple as statistics or simply how I feel. I have discussed this very topic with my head coach Joe Sacco, who feels that both Elliot and Budaj are not just giving their all but they are key components to the success in our locker room, which you know is just as important as what happens on the ice, it is after these discussions with Joe that I believe his intuition that we have what we need to win, and our record proves him right. Good on him I say.

As for what we are after I can't name names but we are looking to add experience and grit upfront. Mckenzie listed a lot of names I am looking at, though I won't confirm or deny anything today, you will have to wait for the deals to be official first.

Dreger: you said earlier this year that you wouldn't sell the future unless you had a legitimate chance at the cup, is that now? Next year? When exactly is that.

Pattenden: Heh. While I understand what your really asking me here Derren let me answer that first. No you can never say this is the cup year with 100% certainty no matter how good your team is, that is the nature of the game and you don't have to look back very far to see examples of that. Now for what you did say... I stand by my earlier comments this year and I will not be selling the future for this yeas drive to the cup.

I believe in who we have here this year and we have all seen what they are capable of. Now I am big enough to admit this is in large part due my own gaffe earlier this year when I lost Jakub Klepis through waivers. Due to that mistake I need my first overall pick for the upcoming draft to fulfill my Plans. And before you ask, no I can't tell who I'm looking to draft. After saying all this understand that I do intend to add to our playoff roster if I can get reasonable responses.

Dreger: So where do you go from here? We have talked about the past and the present. Tell us if you will, about the future.

Pattenden: well Derren, unfortunately I can't see as well into the future as I can the past, I can only tell you what I hope to be true and my plan to help it get there.

You see I had it pretty easy here when I started when you think about it. My biggest decision was who to draft. And while that is a very important decision what I mean is I only had one expiring contract to deal with, I had and still have lots of cap space to maneuver in and I had a set and capable roster to work with that included young up coming talent and established veterans. Sure I made some tweaks and brought in a couple guys and sure one of those guys happens to be a league leader in multiple categories. You could also say we faced a crisis point here and there but I believe my true test as a new GM begins in two days. When that trade deadline rolls over and we advance into the playoffs, then in the off season I have multiple contracts expire that I have to deal with, and these are some important guys to our current success. That will all lead into the rookie draft and free agency.

Dredger: Last question for you here Steve. Are you happy with the performance of your team and in hindsight is there anything you would do differently?

Pattenden: Well Derren it's easy to sit in an office and pull your guys in and say okay Dreger this is what I expect of you, I want 30 goals 27 assists +8 this season don't fail me. But it isn't easy to go do it, when you deal with a random environment nightly. Now I do have this discussion with all my players but I set them a goal to achieve and yes there are guys on this club who at this point have fallen short of those goals. There are also people who have surpassed them. I don't hold it against them unless it stems from an obvious lack of effort. Everyone has a role on my club from staff to player, and it's clearly defined if you can't meet the expectations of that role, perhaps we asked for too much, or too little those are things that can change, and do change from year to year.

Now for hindsight, no. If I could go back and change my Klepis blunder, maybe that alteration would change the outcome for the worse and our fans and players don't deserve that. Everyone has worked very hard to be here and they deserve to be here. Yes I deeply regret that particular action but no I wouldn't change it. And hey, there's always the off season.

Thank you to Av's GM Steve Pattenden and all the readers for following for TSN I'm hockey insider Derren Dreger.

[Dynasty]

Trade deadline results and press conference with GM Steve Pattenden

Good evening fans, readers and media. Thank you for gathering for the Avalanche post trade deadline conference. I realize that most of you are aware of our trades already from watching sports center but I wanted to take some time to recap everything that happened.

Last night before deadline day hit I had a final look at free agency and found a guy there that fits perfectly into our bottom four and will fill the role of gritty physical winger that will win battles and do the things that needs to be done come playoff time. I was very pleased to see his name sitting there and it took one quick phone call to bring him on board.

Colorado signs free agent:
LW Evgeny Artyukhin 27 years old to a one year contract worth 510K 81 overall C/C/C potential

First I will talk about our trade with Minnesota that seen us trade
RW David Jones 26 years old one year remaining on his contract at 1.44M 80 overall C/C/C potential
Colorado's 2011 7th round pick

TO Minnesota FOR:
LW Andrew Brunette 37 years old 1 year remaining on his contract at 2.205M 82 overall C-/D/D potential

I first want to thank David for his hard work this season. He has shown up every night and put in 100% effort into every shift. I am sorry he will not make the journey into the post season with us. In his stead we get a guy with more experience who plays a similar game but is more able to play in any situation that arises. We will be looking for Andrew that make big contributions in all zones of the ice as we move forward.

Second I would like to talk about our trade with the blues to bring back a familiar face.

We traded C Mark Olver 23 years old 2 years at 850K remaining on his contract 73 overall B-/B-/B- potential
Colorado's 2012 7th round pick

TO The Blues for:
C Jakub Klepis 26 years old 3 years at 1M remaining on his contract 78 overall B-/A-/B- potential

I had many lengthy discussions with my scouting staff before re acquiring Klepis. Like I said previously I have very specific plans for him and I wished to continue with those plans. This again reverts my draft strategy to the one that was devised before this season even began. We are excited to have Jakub returned to our franchise.

Next up we traded
D Matt Hunwick 25 years old 1 year at 1.45M remaining on his contract 77 overall C/C/C potential
Colorado's 2011 5th round pick

TO Washington for:
C Jason Arnott 36 years old 1 year at 4.075 remaining on his contract 84 overall C-/C-/C- potential

First off I would like to say thank you to Matt for his services here in Colorado and wish him luck with the Capitols and their playoff run.

I would also like to welcome Jason into our fold. It was one of my top needs to bring in a center that was capable in the circle and responsible in all zones. I believe Jason will give us exactly what we need.

My last trade of the day was the Philly and it was a tough one.

Colorado trades:
D Jay McKee 33 years old 3 years at 2.5M remaining on his contract 81 overall C/C/C potential

TO Philly for:
D Erik Gustaffson 22 years old 3 years at 900Kmremaining on his contract 74 overall B-/B-/A- potential

Jay was counted on by us for many things this season. He was a leader in our locker room a mentor to our younger guys a steady and calm force on the blue line. He gave everything that was needed and more. He has done his job so well that it freed us up and made us confident enough to make this deal. We believe Gustavsson will thrive in our prospects system and we were looking to find some more offensive minded d men with skating ability and Erik fits this mold, when I got the call for this trade I couldn't turn it down.

There was many hard decisions made today. We had to say good bye to guys who have been in our system for a long time and to guys who have helped us get where we are today, but I believe the transactions made today reinforced the core structure of not just the team we have today but the team we will have in the coming years. There is no doubt a lot if line shuffling about the happen and I'll get you guys up to date as son as he coach is done slotting people where he thinks is best.

Thank you for your time everyone. I hope you are all exited as I am for our up coming playoff drive.

League movement during the deadline:

Calgary trades:
D Steve Staios and LW Cam Cunning

TO Detroit for:
C Mike Modano and RW Ilari Filppula

The Blues trade:
D Roman Polak and C Vladimir Sobotka

TO Buffalo for:
C Paul Gaustad and D Mike Weber

The penguins trade:
2011 2nd round pick (PIT) 2012 2nd round pick (PIT)

TO Montreal for:
C Ryan Russel and 2011 3rd round pick (MTL)

Minnesota trades:
D Nate Prosser and C Casey Wellman

TO the Blues for:
D N. Nikitin RW C. Janssen and 2011 2nd round pick (STL)

[thedudedominick]

After a busy week or so for me I was able to catch up on this dynasty you have going. Great to see youth coming to the forefront for you. Looking forward to seeing how this team progresses.

[Dynasty]

Quote: Originally Posted by thedudedominick

After a busy week or so for me I was able to catch up on this dynasty you have going. Great to see youth coming to the forefront for you. Looking forward to seeing how this team progresses.

Thanks for following and good luck with the devils.

[bthomp05]

Arty, Arty, Arty.. Now your going to win, haha.

I don't know about the Mckee deal, hope it works.

[Razor18]

Nice job to bring back Klepis, and to bring in Brunette and Arnott, team seems to be ready for a great playoff run